It’s been a year since my last update, but I have been actively working on my backlog (as well as adding to it). I also got back to streaming earlier this year (dedicating one night a week to a different roguelike), which has allowed me to cycle through my backlog far more than I otherwise would have.
That said, these reviews will be much more quick and dirty than the ones I have written up in the past

(May 1 - July 31)

• Supraland - Amazing 3d metroidvania. Good progression of abilities, always keeps things fresh. One of my favorite games played of the year
• Kingdom Hearts 3 - Gameplay was alright, but easy. Level design started strong in the first few worlds, but quickly became bland and linear. Story felt rushed, with many beats dropped, or skipped all together. Also, Frozen world was a mess (out of no where final boss)
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps - Somehow managed to surpass the original. Was unsure how I'd feel about a more Hollow Knight style skill system, but worked really well.
• Creeper World 3 - Fun Tower defense game. The difficulty curve was all over the place though, with some levels being a breeze, and others just kicking my arse.
• My Time at Portia - Starts off fun, with plenty to do, but once you reach a certain point, it becomes grindy getting the materials needed to progress.
• Gato Roboto - Fun metroidvania, but incredibly short. I honestly can't remember much about it though, so can't say it was too memorable of an experience. Just that I enjoyed it

(August 1 - December 31)

• Wuppo - Didn't like it. Lots of items to collect, with the majority doing absolutely nothing.
• Dandara - Interesting take on metroidvania, where you can only jump/"bounce" from one spot to the next. Controls are a bit finnicky from time to time though, as there were many instances of wanting to dash from one spot to another, only to land somewhere else
• Borderlands 3 (Zane) - Definitely some gameplay improvements from Borderlands 2, but the story was a MASSIVE downgrade. The villains weren't even remotely interesting, and the interactions with the secondary characters on the ship added nothing
• One Step from Eden - Fun rogue-like/card battler. Super quick and challenging, with a bunch of characters to choose from who play vastly different from each other.
• Medievil - Never played it back in the day, but I have to imagine it was much impressive back then than it is now, even with the remaster improvements. There is a reason Spyro was a much bigger success

(January 1 - May 1)

• Journey to the Savage Planet - Great 3D metroidvania. Humor is definitely hit and miss, but the gameplay is very solid.
• Airheart - Very shallow gameplay. Twinstick shooter, flying around collecting material to craft better ships/weapons.
• Star Wars: Fallen Order - It had potential, and was alright for was it was, but could have been so much more. ex: Tons of chests, but they only give cosmetics, which you barely even see anyways.
• Enter the Gungeon - Started playing years ago (off and on), but finally beat recently. Lots of interesting weapons to play around with, and feels really satisfying when you get good at it
• Enslaved - Pigsy's Perfect 10 (DLC) - Terrible. The original Enslaved was a very fun, and underrated action game (was one of my top games from 2010), this DLC, however, is just a cover-based stealth game over and over again
• Neon Abyss - Collect eggs and weapons, hatch eggs, watch as your character grows in power. So much variety in the game, and is a great roguelike. The biggest issue, is that in order to unlock a bunch of things, you are probably looking at 20 hours of grinding. There are only so many tokens you can get per run, and the skill tree quickly starts getting expensive
• Book of Demons - Far more linear of a rogue-like than I thought going in, but still fun. Would've liked more variety with the cards/skills though
• 20XX - Challenging rogue-like platformer, not so much due to the baddies, but the platforming itself. Many instances, specifically near the end, that require keen precision to do. Also fairly short, with all of the items able to be unlocked fairly quickly.
• Detective Gallo - Not a great point and click game. Multiple instances of nonsensical puzzles (ex: black diamond), as well as moments where the game punishes you for being too many steps ahead, and not triggering the needed dialogue to allow you to get something (with the main character calling the player an idiot for even attempting it)
• Sparklite - Fun zelda-style roguelike, but very short. Took about 4 hours to reach the final boss, and that includes exploring finished zones after I beat their respective bosses (which were dispatched with ease). The crux of the game will be exploring though, with a variety of tools you get from dungeons, solving puzzles and getting new badges to equip back at your base. Really enjoyable, but not nearly worth the $25. Get it on sale
• Darksiders: Genesis - I still need to play Darksiders 2 and 3, but this one was a fun spinoff/prequel. The skill tree, particular, was what made this game so unique, with enemies dropping orbs that you would then level up and try to fit on the tree, with the game only allowing so many, forcing you to balance how you wanted your build to go

Games played, but not beaten

• Fall Guys - Yea, so this has been my time sink. Hundreds of hours into this, over 400 crowns in all.
• Hades - Technically, I kind of beat it. Beat the "final" boss at least, but obviously that isn't the end. Great game that I really intend to get back to, but it is one of my streaming games, so need to fit it into my schedule
• Griftlands - Seems to be a deep game, played a few hours of it, love the fact that choices have deep meaning in the game. Will likely return to it after it leaves early access
• Mothergunship - Fun FPS Roguelike, but gets chaotic after a while. It doesn't help that I'm no good at shooters on consoles. And losing some of your best gun parts is really devastating.
• Children of Morta - Like Neon Abyss from above, seems to be a lot of grind required for proper progress. Beat the first area without too much issue, but the game really wants you to switch the characters around for balance, which means using some people you aren't especially good with.
• Wizard of Legend - So many abilities and items, I love it. It's also fairly easy to unlock new items, without it feeling like a grind
• Dead Cells - This is one I really want to get good at. Very fun and challenging.
• Moonlighter - Store management aspect of the game is very weak, but I am also still early game, and have hope it improves. The dungeon-crawling is also not the greatest, with attacks that are either too slow, or too limited in range. It also seems like another game that is going to require grinding for upgrades in order to progress properly
• Final Fantasy XV - Only FF game I've ever finished was 10... I don't feel like that changing after the time I've put into XV. It's an alright game, and I like the real-time combat over turn-based, but it is rather easy and dull. Made even worse due to a daily quest I did that boosted me all the way to about level 70 (and I'm at a point in the game where story enemies are about 20... so massively overpowered now)
• Marvel's Avengers - Premise sounded fun, but gameplay is terrible. Played for a few hours, hoping I'd unlock the better characters faster, but stopped after a few hours in (the Ant Hill).
• Assassin's Creed Origins - In order to not be underleveled, did a bunch of side quests and activities, and got burnt out. Began to feel more like a chore / a to-do list. The side activities weren't even fun, but a means to be level appropriate for other content. Will return at some point, so that I can go on to Oddyssey, which will likely be more of the same. *shrugs*
• Days gone - Surprisingly good game, considering all the negativity I heard about it previously.
• Fenyx Rising - Interesting attempt at PG-ifying greek mythology, with a lot of tongue-in-cheek nods to the real stories. Not sure how long having Zeus as a bumbling idiot will last before it wears thin though. Gameplay is fun, but with so many side quests and activities, it doesn't take long to unlock/max out most of the skills, leaving nothing to really look forward to.